The  Local  Freight  Agent 


An  Address 

Before  the 

American  Association  of  Freight  Agents 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
June  20,  1916 


By 

FAIRFAX  HARRISON 

President,  Southern  Railway  Company 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/localfreightagenOOharr 


THE  LOCAL  FREIGHT  AGENT. 


6 19  32 


As  common  carriers  it  is  our  business  to  accept  freight  from  the 
shipper  and  deliver  it  to  the  receiver,  whether  on  the  originating  line 
or  on  some  other  line,  with  reasonable  promptness  and  in  as  good  con- 
dition as  when  it  was  entrusted  to  us. 

The  Local  Freight  Agent  starts  and  stops  every  pound  of  business 
we  handle,  and — in  the  language  of  the  forceful  and  efficient  Superinten- 
dent of  Agencies  of  Southern  Railway  Company,  who  is  known  to  many 
of  you — “If  it  don’t  start  right,  it’s  dollars  to  doughnuts  it  won’t  stop 
right.'’  You  and  I both  know  the  consequences.  If  a package  of  freight 
does  not  stop  right  a dissatisfied  shipper,  a disgruntled  receiver  and  a 
loss  or  damage  claim  are  inevitable.  It  follows  that  efficient  service  by 
the  local  agent  is  one  of  the  most  effective  forms  of  solicitation,  and  that 
efficiency  in  his  office  shows  directly  on  the  balance  sheet. 

The  most  important  part  of  your  duty  is  undoubtedly  that  con- 
nected with  the  receipt  and  handling  of  money  and  the  keeping  and 
rendering  of  accounts — for  substantially  all  the  revenue  of  the  railroad 
passes  through  your  hands — but  next  to  this  my  own  belief  is  that  your  op- 
portunity for  success  lies  largely  in  starting  a shipment  right.  I shall 
not  attempt  to  give  you  technical  advice  as  to  how  to  do  this  because  you 
probably  all  know  more  about  it  than  I do,  but  shall  make  some  brief 
philosophical  observations  as  to  efficiency  in  railroad  employment  which 
apply  with  special  force  to  the  local  agent. 

The  local  agent  is  the  man  on  the  railroad  with  whom  the  public 
comes  most  in  contact  and  the  opinion  which  his  neighbors  have  of  him 
is  apt  to  become  their  opinion  of  the  Company.  His  realization  of  this 
will  inspire  him  with  a determination  to  maintain  the  good  name  both  of 
himself  and  of  his  company.  Uniform  courtesy  in  dealing  with  the 
public  should  be  the  rule  of  every  railroad  officer  and  employee.  It 
is  of  supreme  importance  to  the  local  agent,  for  discourteous  treatment 
may  lead  a shipper  to  give  his  business  to  a competing  line  or  to  short- 
haul  that  of  the  man  who  has  offended  him,  and  it  is  well  for  the  agent 
to  remember  that  in  reality  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a “non-competitive  ’ 
railroad  station.  Though  the  business  may  have  to  start  by  his  line,  a 


disgruntled  shipper  may  turn  it  over  to  another  at  the  first  junction  point. 

There  are  many  ways  in  which  the  local  agent  and  the  shipper  may 
co-operate  to  their  mutual  advantage,  and  the  most  successful  local 
agent  will  be  one  who  strives  unceasingly  to  bring  about  this  co-opera- 
tion and  especially  to  secure  the  intelligent  interest  of  the  shipper  in  the 
proper  packing,  marking  and  loading  of  his  goods.  You  may  make  a 
life-long  friend  for  yourself  and  for  your  company  by  explaining  to  a 
shipper  just  how  certain  goods  may  have  been  lost  or  damaged  as  a result 
of  improper  packing,  marking  or  loading.  On  the  other  hand,  if  goods 
have  been  lost,  damaged  or  delayed  through  the  fault  of  the  railroad,  is 
it  not  better  to  go  to  the  shipper  and  frankly  tell  him  the  whole  truth, 
accept  full  blame,  tell  him  just  what  happened,  why  it  happened,  what 
you  are  doing  to  prevent  the  same  thing  happening  again,  and  show  him 
what  he  may  be  able  to  do  to  help  you  ? It  is  human  to  err,  but  the  wise 
man  profits  by  his  errors  and  will  not  make  the  same  mistake  twice. 

I yield  to  no  one  in  appreciation  of  the  difficulties  of  the  agent’s  job. 
He  probably  comes  into  contact  with  as  much  meanness  and  petty  dis- 
honesty as  any  man  in  business,  but  where  he  is  successful  he  probably 
earns  as  much  esteem  and  good  opinion  and  gets  as  cordial  co-operation 
from  the  great  majority  of  business  men  who  are  honest  and  straight- 
forward as  does  any  public  servant. 

He  must,  however,  be  a versatile  man.  In  addition  to  having  the 
qualities  which  make  for  success  in  the  management  of  a general  mer- 
chandise store  he  must  be  usually  a telegraph  operator,  a rough  and 
ready  lawyer,  a first  aid  surgeon,  a substitute  for  a certified  public  ac- 
countant, a pretty  good  bank  president,  a political  economist,  a peace 
maker,  a captain  of  men  in  action,  and  an  organizer  of  victory.  He  must 
interpret  and  do  his  best  to  enforce  a multitude  of  detailed  and  often 
obscure  regulations  prescribed  by  law  and  by  public  regulating  authority 
as  well  as  those  which  originate  at  the  railroad  headquarters.  He  must 
have  a patience  and  good  humor  which  will  qualify  him  for  a-  robe  and 
a harp  and  a seat  in  Heaven  along  side  of  Job  himself,  and,  with  all  this, 
he  must  be  a self-respecting  citizen,  a church-member  and  rear  a family 
on  a modest  wage.  It  would  seem  that  if  every  local  agent  qualified 
in  all  of  these  respects  the  political  parties  would  all  go  to  your  Asso- 
ciation to  find  candidates  for  President  of  the  United  States.  But 
seriously  your  job  is  an  important  job  in  every  railroad  and  no  self- 
respecting  managing  officer  fails  in  respect  and  esteem  for  the  successful 
agent. 


I 


The  German  army  is  the  wonderful  fighting  machine  that  it  has 
proven  itself  to  be  not  because  the  individual  soldiers  of  whom  it  is 
composed  are  in  any  way  superior  in  natural  ability  to  an  equal  number 
of  men  of  any  other  nationality.  Its  superiority  is  due  to  the  fact  that, 
from  the  time  of  von  Moltke  to  the  present,  there  has  always  been  at 
the  head  of  the  German  General  Staff  a man  of  the  highest  efficiency, 
who  would  be  contented  with  nothing  but  superior  service  throughout 
the  entire  organization,  from  a general  commanding  an  army  to  a private 
in  the  ranks.  The  same  rule  holds  good  in  every  human  organization, 
including  the  local  agency  of  a railroad.  As  the  agent  is,  so  will  his 
force  be.  If  he  is  a man  of  efficiency  himself,  who  will  not  be  content 
with  anything  short  of  superior  service  from  his  entire  organization 
down  to  the  office  boy  and  truckers,  he  will  get  that  kind  of  service. 
There  may  be  different  ways  of  doing  this  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  and  in  different  railroad  organizations,  but  I believe  that  the 
best  way  will  uniformly  be  for  the  agent  to  be  a leader  of  his  men  and 
not  a driver.  I know  it  is  the  best  way  on  the  Southern  Railway,  for 
the  Southern  man  is  hard  to  drive,  but  there  is  nowhere  that  he  will 
not  follow  a leader  who  has  his  full  confidence  and  respect. 

There  are  three  requisites  for  advancement  in  railroad  service — 
loyalty,  efficiency  in  your  present  job,  and  preparedness  for  larger  re- 
sponsibilities. Efficiency  and  preparedness  for  higher  place  go  together, 
for  that  man  will  be  most  efficient  in  his  present  job  who  is  not  content 
with  mere  mechanical  performance  of  his  duties  but  who  has  an  intelli- 
gent understanding  of  them  in  their  relation  to  the  service  as  a whole 
and  who  has  qualified  to  take  over  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  his 
immediate  superior  on  a moment’s  notice.  Applying  this  to  the  local 
agency,  it  follows  not  only  that  the  agent  should  be  a man  measuring  up 
to  these  requirements  for  advancement,  but  that  he  should  carry  out  the 
principle  in  the  organization  of  his  force.  I suggest  that  a young  man 
who  gives  evidence  of  a desire  and  a determination  to  make  the  most  of 
his  opportunities  should  not  always  be  passed  over  for  one  whose  present 
qualifications  may  seem  to  be  superior,  but  who  would  probably  develop 
into  nothing  higher  than  the  mechanical,  clock-watching  type  of  em- 
ployee. Starting  with  the  best  material  available,  every  man  in  the 
agency  should,  of  course,  be  expected  to  perform  his  immediate  duties 
efficiently,  but,  in  addition  to  this,  he  should  be  encouraged  to  familiarize 
himself  with  all  the  business  of  the  agency,  to  qualify  himself  for  any 
place  in  it  and  to  make  suggestions  for  the  improvement  of  the  service. 


The  right  kind  of  an  agent  need  not  be  afraid  to  have  men  under  him 
qualified  to  take  his  place,  for  if  he  is  the  right  kind  of  an  agent  no 
subordinate  will  be  so  well  qualified  for  his  place  as  he  himself,  and,  if 
his  subordinates  are  all  qualified  for  promotion  along  the  lines  I have 
suggested,  by  efficiency  in  their  present  jobs  combined  with  an  intelligent 
understanding  of  their  relation  to  the  service  as  a whole  and  with  pre- 
paredness for  larger  responsibilities,  the  agent’s  mind  will  be  relieved  of 
details,  he  can  be  a constructive  leader,  and  the  work  of  his  agency  will 
be  of  such  high  grade  that  it  can  not  avoid  attracting  the  attention  of  his 
superiors. 

The  interests  of  the  railroads  by  which  you  are  employed  are  largely 
in  the  hands  of  the  members  of  this  Association,  and  the  work  which  you 
Avill  do  here  in  the  way  of  perfecting  methods  ensuring  the  proper 
handling  of  the  freight  entrusted  to  our  care,  the  reduction  of  loss  and 
damage  claims  and  the  proper  accounting  for  the  cash  which  you  receive 
will  be  reflected  in  the  balance  sheet  of  your  companies  and  appreciated 
by  their  general  officers. 


